Rail travellers across Europe frequently have to do battle with several different national and regional rail booking systems and platforms, making taking the train more difficult. Even worse, in the case of a problem, delay or cancellation getting in the way of a connection between different national operators, passenger rights do not apply, leaving train passengers exposed to financial losses and inconvenience.
Demand for rail travel up
But demand for train travel is on the up in Europe. Interrail figures show that train travel grew by 25 percent between 2022 and 2023. To better serve those passengers, a new integrated single European booking system is set to be launched before the end of 2026, providing rail users with a one-stop shop to map out and pay for their travel schedule.
Platforms such as Rail Europe and Omio do give passengers some international rail travel options, but they still require multiple tickets, with the journey broken into sections. Instead, the new single-ticket proposal would present the possibility of booking one single pan-European ticket for a journey, even if it crosses various international borders, with digitisation simplifying the whole business of rail travel.
It is unbelievable that we do not have this in 2024.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, EU transport commissioner
Making green travel easier
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the new EU transport commissioner behind the proposal, sees pan-European rail integration as a key sustainability and decarbonisation strategy. He announced the project to MEPs during his new Commissioner Confirmation Hearing.
“It is unbelievable that we do not have this in 2024,” Tzitzikostas told attendees, a remark that is especially true given the idea was first mooted by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen back in 2021. While von de Leyen advocated seamless booking trains, planes, car rentals, buses and even e-scooters, Tzitzikostas is focused on rail, but his vision does not stop at the journey planning stage. Not only does he want booking and payment systems to be integrated, but also the network itself, through growth in high-speed connections between the continent’s major cities.
Digitisation is “vital”
The concept of a one-stop ticket shop for European rail has been supported by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), a body representing more than 70 railway operators and national associations across the bloc. They have also pushed for the innovation and hailed the significance of Tzitzikostas’s project, saying, “This recognition that digitalisation is essential to help modernise the transport system is vital.”
The integrated platform has been slated for 2025, but its implementation depends on the answer to several questions, including how the EU’s 27 member states agree to share their data and what effect the different track gauges across the continent’s rail network will have on a unified approach.
